


Arguments

by KaskardenFluvia



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Arguments, Canon Compliant, Gen, Lord Vile is mentioned, listen i wrote this in 2016 and i got the feels again so I'm uploading it now, post-TDOTL, screaming and crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 19:50:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16002089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaskardenFluvia/pseuds/KaskardenFluvia
Summary: All she wanted was for everything to go back to normal. She wanted to go back to solving mysteries with Skulduggery and she wanted to save the world with him again. She wanted to be the goddamn hero again.But she would always stay the villain.Set shortly after the ending of TDOTL (like, an hour later)





	Arguments

**Author's Note:**

> Uh, so I wrote this in 2016, never uploaded it, remembered it while I was on holiday, rewrote it and now I'm uploading it.

“You ran away!”, Skulduggery shouted. Valkyrie recoiled and stared at him. He couldn’t possibly be serious.

“Because I had no other choice!”, she cried out. “Someone would have killed me if I had stayed in Ireland and you know that! They all _hate_ me. There was no way I could have stayed!”

She turned around to leave the kitchen, wanting to get out of this argument as soon as possible.

“Well, you could have owned up to it.” she heard Skulduggery mutter and she whirled around on her heels.

“What did you just say?” she growled, voice dangerously low. Skulduggery turned towards her, something hard and arrogant in his posture. Valkyrie had never seen him like this before.

“I said,” he repeated slowly, “that you could have owned up to your actions.”

Valkyrie blinked a few times, unable to fully process what he just said. Then the rage started to boil in her stomach, her hands clenching at her sides.

“Oh yes, because _you_ are so good at owning up for things, are you?” she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I don’t know-“ She cut him off before he could finish his reply.

“You don’t know what I’m talking about?” she said, taking a step towards him. “Oh come on, don’t pretend like your stupid. You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about, Skulduggery. Or should I say _Lord Vile._ ”

He stiffened. She took another step towards him, standing only inches away from him now.

“Who did you own up to? Did you ever apologise to anyone for what you did?”

“Valkyrie, stop.” He said quietly, trying to keep his voice calm.

“Does anyone apart from me even _know?_ Mmh?”

“Valkyrie, please.”

“Did you ever apologize to all the people you killed. Did you tell Ghastly that you killed his mother? Did you ever tell a Grand Mage what you did during the time you were gone? Were you ever trialled? Were you punished for your crimes?”

“Valkyrie, stop!”, he shouted, but Valkyrie was far too angry to stop now, even though she knew how much her words hurt him.

“No, I won’t stop because you want me to do something you never did. You know that you can’t just _own_ _up_ to killing hundreds of people. You know that. It’s impossible. It might sound easy for you, because no one knows what you did but they know what _I_ did. Darquesse didn’t wear a disguise. Everyone knows that I killed people and that I had fun doing it. They know that I enjoyed killing people.”

She felt tears streaming down her cheeks and wondered when exactly she had started crying.

“I don’t even know how many I killed. I lost count somewhere. Because I didn’t _care_ enough. Because I liked killing _innocents._

“Valkyrie, stop.”, Skulduggery said again, but this time he was begging.

“I wanted to destroy the world, Skulduggery. I wanted to kill my parents. I almost killed everyone I ever loved or cared for. I almost killed _you_. There is no way I can ever own up to even parts of that.”

He reached out, trying to lay a hand on her arm but she pushed his hand away angrily.

“Get away from me.”, she growled.

He tried to grab her again.

“I just want to help you.”, he whispered. She pushed his hand away again and took a step back.

“I don’t want your help.”, she responded sharply.

He took a step forward, reaching out for her again. “Please, Valky-“

“I said, get away from me!”, she screamed, shoving him back. He stumbled away from her, startled.

Before he could make another move she turned around and rushed into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her, leaving Skulduggery alone in the kitchen.

She collapsed onto her bed, hiding her face in the thick pillow. She noticed that she was sobbing. It was just so unfair. She didn’t want to argue with him, she hated arguing with Skulduggery. All she wanted was for everything to go back to normal. She wanted to go back to solving mysteries with Skulduggery and she wanted to save the world with him again. She wanted to be the goddamn _hero_ again.

But she would always stay the villain. Things wouldn’t go back to how they were before. They would argue again and again and eventually they would start to drift away from each other, and they would stop working together because eventually he would grow to hate her as everyone else already did. There was no way she’d be able to prevent it.

She could hear Skulduggery pacing in front of the door, his footsteps still familiar after five years. He made no attempt to come in, he didn’t knock on the door, probably waiting for her to come out again.

But she wouldn’t go. It hadn’t been her mistake, so she wouldn’t be the one apologising. Instead, she pressed her face into her pillow and waited for Skulduggery to make a move.

***

“Valkyrie?” she heard his voice from the door. Apparently, Skulduggery’s patience had finally run out. She could hear his footsteps nearing on the wooden floor, but she didn’t turn around.

He sat down on her bad, carefully avoiding her feet. She kept ignoring him, hoping he would go away again.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered after a moment of hesitation and Valkyrie opened her eyes and slowly turned around,

“For what?” she asked, voice still raspy from all the crying and screaming.

“For what I said. You- You were right.” His voice was tight, she knew how much he hated to admit that he had made a mistake. Slowly Valkyrie sat up again, hugging her knees to her chest. Skulduggery was sitting on the edge of her bad, holding his hat in his hands and staring down at it.

“I shouldn’t have told you to own up to what you did. You were right. About me. About Vile.”

Valkyrie suddenly realised that his voice wasn’t tight because he had to admit a mistake, but because he actually felt _guilty_. It sounded like he was choking down tears, even though that was technically impossible.

“Then why did you say it?”, she asked quietly, watching him fiddle with his hat.

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “I was just so angry that you left.”

He let go of his head and turned to her, his empty eye sockets staring at her.

“I just missed you so much, Valkyrie. I missed you so, so much.”

Valkyrie bit her lip, unable to answer. There were a million things she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come out. It felt like someone had tied up her throat. Finally, she managed to choke out a few words.

“Why would you miss me? I’m a horrible person.”

Skulduggery looked at her in silence before he let out a small laugh. Valkyrie frowned.

“Yes you are.” He agreed, and she felt her eyes widen. “But so am I.”

He leaned forward and grabbed her hands.

“We are horrible people. We both have killed more innocent people than we can count. But that’s why we understand each other. That’s why I know that what I said earlier is wrong. That’s why what you said earlier is right. Valkyrie, we need each other. I missed you because I need you. I need you to remind me to be a better person.”

“You need me?” she croaked, barely holding back tears.

“As much as you need me.” He answered.

Valkyrie smiled weakly and nodded. Then she suddenly leaned forward and hugged him, burying his face between his neck and his shoulder. It wasn’t exactly comfortable and she heard ugly sobs escaping her throat but she didn’t care. All she cared about was Skulduggery, his arms wrapped around her, letting her tears soak his suit. He was gently stroking her back.

It took a while until she had calmed down enough to speak. She took her face off his shoulder and looked at him again. She smiled.

“I’m so glad I called you.”, she whispered before she buried her face in his suit again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I have psychic powers, because I wrote those last few lines before midnight was even announced and yet they are so similar to what Skul said when he wanted Valkyrie to come back again, it's scary. (This also happened with another of my fics so clearly, I'm a psychic)


End file.
